Posts Tagged ‘cloud’

Following our article on Desiré’s key event advice and tips (“5 golden PR rules for events”), we chat top tech events, PR pitches and hot topics in tech for 2014…

Q. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Originally from Mauritius, been in this country for the last 10 years or so. English is my third language and my degree is in sociology. So to land in this country and to work as an editor on one of the biggest B2B websites in the UK is an absolute treat. Prior to working on TechRadar Pro, I was the editor of ITProPortal for 8 years and have been covering and writing tech for my entire adult life.

Q. Tell us a little bit about the title you write for and its interest in data storage/mobile/cloud/infosec/virtualization.

TechRadar Pro is a fairly new title, we’ve been around for less than two years. However, because it has been carved out of TechRadar, UK’s biggest technology website, we already have a significant amount of uniques, far more than more established websites. I seldom write unless I attend an event, have an exclusive or snatch an important interview. As for our areas of interest, our roots lie in computing but my team and I have been working hard on diversifying the content production to include business technology at large. Read the rest of this entry ?

Rene Millman is a freelance writer and broadcaster who covers mobile technology and the cloud. He has previously worked as an analyst for IDC and Gartner and as an editor at Dennis Publishing, SC Magazine and VNUnet (now V3). Recent work by Rene Millman has appeared in Absolute Gadget, CloudPro and others.

Q. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I have made numerous television appearances to give my views and expertise on technology trends and companies that affect and shape our lives. As a presenter, I specialize in technology and gadgets, benefitting from my many years of experience working as a journalist and analyst working with most of the world’s largest technology companies.

Q. Tell us a bit about the titles you write for and their interest in mobile technology.

I write for a lot of different publications. I write a lot about the cloud. In many ways, the cloud is really suited for mobile technology, as it frees us from the dreaded desktop and, by extension, the office. We can work anywhere and don’t have to put on a suit and tie anymore!

Q. What’s hot in mobiles and telecoms this year?

Cloud-enabled apps. Native apps are great and fast on the platforms they run on, but you still need something to do the grunt work. This is where the cloud comes into its own. IT has turned the client-server paradigm on its head. Read the rest of this entry ?

Robert Scoble (or @Scobleizer, as he is known on Twitter) is Rackspace’s startup liaision officer. Check out his blog at http://scobleizer.com/

Q: You were born in New Jersey, but your Wikipedia entry says you grew up in Silicon Valley. How does a New Jersey boy end up being a product of Silicon Valley?

When I was four years old my dad got a job at Ampex in the Silicon Valley and moved us from the East Coast to the West Coast.

Q: Do you think that move to the heart of the VC and startup world affected where you are in your career now?

Absolutely. Watching the Silicon Valley grow up, and watching Apple grow from one building to what it is today, has certainly played a huge role. In college I met Steve Wozniak, the cofounder of Apple, and talked him out of $40,000 or $50,000 for our journalism department. Apple’s success definitely has an effect on many entrepreneurs. I was recently talking to a guy I know who has headquarters in Cupertino, and he says everyday he drives by the Apple offices, he thinks, “I know it can be done.” That helps him stay optimistic—which you need to be as an entrepreneur! If you don’t stay optimistic, you give up, and I’ve heard story after story of companies that won because they didn’t give up. I heard it took 1,000 days for Airbnb’s business to start working. Imagine if they had given up on day 990.

Q: Tell me a little bit about your role at Rackspace and your blog.

Rackspace takes me to be almost like a strategist. They ask me to go and learn what’s happening on the bleeding edge of the Internet. But they don’t ask me to take that knowledge internally to their executives; they ask me to put that on YouTube, Google+ and other places where it can be shared with the world. By doing that, it creates a conversation about Rackspace that is very unique and interesting.

Technology networking and business development event ExecEvent has announced some exciting new speaking and networking opportunities for vendors of storage, virtualization, security, cloud and data centre technology.

At next month’s BIG Event in Santa Clara, California (July 10-11), there will be two separate showcases – one for emerging vendors in the data world, and the other for “big data companies you should know about in 2012.” Each company will present for 10-minutes, followed by 5 minutes of Q&A before an audience of potential partners, VCs, press and analysts. Participating vendors are eligible for consideration for an Execullence Award for Best of Show, Most Disruptive Technology or Coolest New Technology. Judges for the Execullence Awards include representatives from companies like Intel, IBM, EMC, NetApp, HP, HDS as well as selected venture capitalists and financiers.

The BIG Event is the one time in 2012 that ExecEvent will bring together executives from across the storage spectrum in the U.S. The agenda highlights include speeches with a panel of Silicon Valley VCs, an open networking session, a corporate development panel and sales workshop.

There is also this mysterious teaser from the ExecEvent website: “We’ll have a VERY special guest speaker at our ‘Pre’ reception on Monday early evening. Please try to attend – you’ll kick yourself for missing this.”

ExecEvent will take place July 10-11 in Santa Clara, CA. There will be opportunities for informal networking in both “pre” and “post” cocktail receptions. Registration is $975. See The BIG Event Registration for more information.

Countdown2MWC readers may be interested in a Q&A session just posted on our cloud computing-focused blog, Countdown2CloudExpo.com, with David Terrar (@DT on Twitter). David is a blogger and CEO of a cloud service provider in IBM’s social media speakeasy. He has some interesting views on how to use the cloud and social media to promote your business.

Q. Hello Peter. Would you start by telling us a little about your professional self and your publication?

I have been a journalist for 25 years, aaargh. To my surprise, I now find myself editor of TechWeekEurope, a proper news site which, after three years, continues to go from strength to strength. TWE is for technology decision makers. Our aim is to examine the business implications of IT developments. As you might imagine, that means we are particularly interested in mobile, security, the public sector, the cloud, and sustainable IT.

Q. What are the hottest topics in mobile?

This is a tricky question, because in mobile the hottest thing seems to be stuff that doesn’t actually exist – like unannounced Apple products – or stuff that’s not that exciting – like the new iPad. Where Apple is concerned, people tend to see it even if it isn’t there. We took a survey before MWC and readers told us Read the rest of this entry ?